A bizarre situation unfolded about a month ago in Baltimore in which people were paying rent to a landlord who claimed he was helping fill the need for affordable housing, but there were serious questions about the living conditions inside, as well as who actually owned the homes.

A bizarre situation is unfolding in Baltimore in which people are paying rent to a landlord who claims he's helping fill the need for affordable housing, but there are serious questions about the living conditions inside, as well as who actually owns the homes. The I-Team's Barry Simms reports.

The landlord involved in the case has since accepted a plea agreement from the city.

In early February, a sign in the window of a house on North Montford Avenue in east Baltimore said furnished rooms were for rent with utilities included. But tenants living in the house didn't get the newly remodeled space they said they were promised.

"We try to sleep upstairs. We turned the light on and the freaking ceiling comes down," said a tenant who only gave her name as Karen.

Residents were still stunned when city inspectors went there and declared the place unfit and dangerous. The I-Team's camera was rolling on Feb. 2 when tenants were forced out.

"You can't come in here," Rafferty said as city officials were trying to vacate the home. "You can't do this. I got the permit for this."

"He would do some very minor patch and paint-type repairs to the property, and then he would go find tenants and move them in," said city housing official Jason Hessler.

Rafferty had a valid permit that allows people to stay at the home, but the city said the permit was issued in error and that the place was uninhabitable.

"How in the world can you even say that?" Rafferty questioned as the Montford home was shut down.

It isn't the only property where Rafferty rented rooms. City workers boarded up seven other properties, claiming all of them were supposed to be vacant, including a house neighbors told the I-Team about on North Patterson Park Avenue. Rafferty denied having anything to do with it, but Roosevelt Sydnor said he rented a room there from Rafferty, who gave him a warning.

"The back room upstairs? That's the room he told us to avoid. He said, 'Whatever you do, don't go in that room,'" Sydnor said.

But he did anyway.

"What I saw was messed up. The roof was caving in. (There were) two totes full of water," Sydnor said.

The rundown houses weren't the only problem. State records show Rafferty is affiliated with a company that does own two of the houses, but as for some of the others, there's an interesting twist.

"Actually the owners of the properties were deceased, and we can't connect him to the properties legally in any way," Hessler said.

"What do you say about the city's allegation that you are basically going around, finding homes in which the owners are deceased, and you're basically just taking over the properties?" I-Team reporter Barry Simms asked Rafferty.

Rafferty replied, "I got them through the tax sales. All of them are tax sale properties. It happened to be, like, five or six of them were deceased, and that's what was taking a long time, too, to close on them."

He declined to show the I-Team documents backing that up.

Rafferty finds tenants outside an east Baltimore methadone clinic, on social media and by word-of-mouth, Simms reported, and he rents rooms for about $450 to $500 a month.

The city thought he was taking advantage of vulnerable people, but he disagreed.

"A lot of places won't allow them to rent," Rafferty said.

But who actually owns the home where Rafferty lives?

"The mayor and City Council of Baltimore own it," Hessler said.

"No, no, no. I own this property. I own this property, square out," Rafferty told Simms.

The city is making sure the properties it boarded up remain vacant.

Rafferty accepts plea deal from city

Rafferty had a court hearing Tuesday in which he accepted a plea agreement from the city.

The judge sentenced Rafferty to 30 days in jail then suspended 16 days. The landlord will be spending weekends in jail.

The judge called Rafferty's actions dangerous, threatening the lives, health and safety of the people who rented rooms from him.

"I didn't force anybody to live in any place. I didn't mean to hurt anybody," Rafferty said.

"I don't want jail on my worst enemy, but I think with what went on and how things went down maybe he needs to be taught a lesson. Spanked on the hand to let him know you can't treat people like that," former tenant Collette Jones said.

Rafferty accepted a deal from the city involving houses at 2107 Belair Road and 1823 North Milton Ave. in east Baltimore. The city has no records showing he owned them. In fact, the owners of both properties are dead. Rafferty pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to obtain required building permits. A charge of illegally running a rooming house was not prosecuted.

"He would come in every now and then do a little piece work to try to make it seem like he was doing something for the house, but it wasn't," former tenant Jeffrey Reese said.

Rafferty's attorney argued that his client did not set out to become a slumlord. The properties were in terrible shape when he assumed them and he wants to make them right. Rafferty wanted probation, worrying anything else could jeopardize his job as a vocational teacher for special needs children in the Prince George’s County school system.

The judge ruled Rafferty had taken advantage of each of his tenants, acting as if he was helping them, but padding his pockets.

For the next seven weekends Rafferty must serve time in jail.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to. I'll report Friday. I'll do what I have to do," Rafferty said.

Rafferty must also pay a $1,000, complete 160 hours of community service and he may have to pay restitution to some of the former tenants. Rafferty will also be on supervised probation.

HOSPITAL AND THE OTHER WAS NOT INJURED. THE BALTIMORE LANDLORD ACCUSED OF TAKING OVER THE HOMES OF DEAD PEOPLE, AND THEN RENTING THE RUNDOWN AND ALMOST UNINHABITABLE ROOMS TO TENANTS, IS PREPARING TO GO TO JAIL. DONNA: LAST NIGHT WE PRESENTED OUR INVESTIGATION OF LANDLORD LARRY RAFFERTY, AND TODAY HE FACED A JUDGE. 11 NEWS I-TEAM REPORTER BARRY SIMMS IS LIVE DOWNTOWN WITH THE FOLLOW UP TODAY. BARRY IT WAS SHOCKING TO SEE THE CONDITIONS PEOPLE WERE LIVING IN. SOME PEOPLE TELL US THEY HAD NO PLACE TO GO IN THE CITY TOLD THEM THEY HAD TO GET OUT. OTHERS SAY THEY LOST EVERYTHING. THE JUDGE SENTENCED HIM TO 30 DAYS UNTIL. -- IN JAIL. HE WILL SPEND WEEKENDS IN JAIL. THE JUDGE CALLED LARRY RAFFERTY'S ACTIONS DANGEROUS, THREATENING THE LIFE AND HEALTH AND SAFETY OF THE PEOPLE WHO RENTED ROOMS FROM HIM. I DIDN'T ENFORCE ANYBODY LIVING ANY PLACE I DIDN'T MEAN TO HAVE -- HURT ANYBODY. I DON'T THINK HE IS MY WORST ENEMY, THAT HE NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT A LESSON. LET HIM KNOW THAT YOU CAN'T DO PEOPLE LIKE THAT. RAFFERTY ACCEPTED A DEAL FROM THE CITY INVOLVING HOUSES. THE CITY HAS NO RECORD SHOWING HE OWNED THEM. IN FACT, THE OWNERS OF PROPERTIES ARE DEAD. RAFFERTY PLED GUILTY TO TWO CHARGES OF FAILING TO RETAIN PERMITS. AS THE TEAM AS REPORTED, CITY HOUSING INSPECTORS SENT OUT A TOTAL OF EIGHT HOUSES ASSOCIATED WITH RAFFERTY THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO BE BEGINS. GIVING TENANTS JUST TO OUR -- TWO HOURS TO GET OUT. HE SAYS HE PURCHASED MANY IN A TAX SALE. HE HAS NOT PRESENTED RECORDS BACKING THAT UP. HE COLLECTED $450-$500 EVERY MONTH IN RENT. HE TRIED TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE HE WAS DOING SOMETHING, BUT HE WASN'T. HIS ATTORNEY ARGUED HIS CLIENT DID NOT SET OUT TO BECOME A SLUMLORD. THE PROPERTIES WERE IN TERRIBLE SHAPE AND HE WANTS TO MAKE THEM RIGHT. HE WANTED PROBATION, WORRYING ANYTHING ELSE COULD JEOPARDIZE HIS JOB AS A VOCATIONAL TEACHER FOR SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN IN PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY. THE JUDGE RULED HE HAD TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF EACH TENANT, ACTING AT HE WAS HELPING THEM BUT PADDING HIS POCKETS. FOR THE NEXT SEVEN WEEKENDS, HE MUST SERVE TIME IN JAIL. I WILL HAVE TO. I WILL REPORT FRIDAY INTO IT I HAVE TO DO. NEXT REFEREE MUST ALSO PAY $1000 FINE AND COMPLETE 160 HOURS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE. HE MAY ALSO HAVE TO PAY SOME TENETS RESTITUTION.

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Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley said Tuesday he will not seek the Senate seat of retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski, keeping open his option of running for president in a Democratic primary likely to include Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Mikulski has always been known as someone who can get the troops in line, but her retirement may have the opposite effect with the troops tripping over themselves to land the coveted Senate seat.

"We don't get this kind of opening very often and it tends to have a domino effect. Many will consider (running), particularly in the House of Representatives," said Larry Gibson, a political strategist. "Marylanders tend to re-elect their senators and the worst senator gets at least six years, so in that sense, it's a good job."

Former Gov. Martin O'Malley apparently is too interested in the White House to consider working in the white dome, where he where will certainly not be boss. In a statement released Tuesday, he said, "I am hopeful and confident that very capable public servants with a desire to serve in the Senate will step up as candidates for this important office. I will not be one of them."

And apparently neither will Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

"I am very, very focused not on 2016, but 2015 and the work I am doing as mayor. It's what I'm passionate about and it's what I'm focused on," Rawlings-Blake said.

In what some estimate could be a $20 million election, the money is on Rep. Chris van Hollen, D-District 8, and Rep. John Sarbanes, D-District 3, as two people who could raise that kind of cash.

A spokesman for Sarbanes, whose father was senator, told 11 News the congressman is giving the opportunity serious consideration.

It's also believed that Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-District 7, would not have a hard time fundraising or campaigning.

"Of the existing (members of) Congress, if the election were held (today), the person with the highest name recognition and popularity would be Elijah Cummings," Gibson said.

"You can't be in politics as long as I have and not be interested in a once-in-a-lifetime political opportunity," Cummings said.

Cummings also said not to discount the Republicans, who, he said, feel empowered by the win of Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. Cummings said this race will be tough for anyone who is in it.

"They just saw what happens in regards to Gov. Hogan winning in a blue state. They feel empowered. It's a tough race for anybody," Cummings said.

As far as the Republicans go, it's believed the Ehrlichs -- either former Gov. Bob Ehrlich or former first lady Kendel Ehrlich -- could easily raise money to wage a campaign, as well as former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele.

But the Senate candidates will find themselves running in a presidential election year, which, in Maryland, historically has boosted the Democratic turnout by as much as 300,000 votes.

Tuesday afternoon, the group Democracy for America told 11 News it is surveying their membership about potentially drafting Rep. Donna Edwards, D-District 4, to run in this race.

Potential candidates to replace Sen. Barbara Mikulski

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U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski announces retirement

Here's a who's who among potential candidates who could vie to replace Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who announced March 2 that she will retire at the end of her fifth term. Her announcement opens the way for what could be a raucous fight next year to replace her in Maryland's first open Senate seat in a decade.

PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. MEANWHILE, SENATOR BARBARA MIKULSKI'S ANNOUNCEMENT NOT TO RUN FOR RE-ELECTION IN 2016 HAS A LOT OF POLITICIANS, PAST AND CURRENTLY SERVING, TALKING ABOUT A POTENTIAL SENATE CAMPAIGN. AND ALREADY ONE "BIG NAME" HAS TAKEN HIS NAME OUT OF CONSIDERATION. 11 NEWS DEBORAH WEINER JOINS US IN THE STUDIO WITH THE STORY. DEBORAH. DEBRA: HERE IS WHAT WE LEARNED. O'MALLEY, NOT INTERESTED. MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE, NOT INTERESTED. AT THIS STAGE, THIS IS A VERY FLUID SITUATION. IT IS ABOUT ELECTABILITY AND FUNDRAISING ABILITY. THANK YOU EVERYBODY. NEXT SENATOR BARBARA MIKULSKI COULD HAVE ENDED HER RETIREMENT NEWS CONFERENCE WITH, LET THE GAMES BEGIN. AS THE JOCKEYING TO REPLACE OR COMMENCES IN EARNEST. WE DON'T GET THIS KIND OF OPENING OFTEN. IT TENDS TO HAVE A DOMINO EFFECT AND THERE WILL BE MANY PEOPLE WHO WILL CONSIDER IT. PARTICULARLY THE INCUMBENT MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. TAKE FOR EXAMPLE, CONGRESSMAN JOHN SARBANES WHOSE FATHER WAS A SENATOR. HE IS GIVING IT SERIOUS CONSIDERATION. CONGRESSMAN ELIJAH CUMMINGS APPEARS TO BE THINKING IN THE SAME VEIN. YOU CAN'T BE IN POLITICS AS LONG AS I HAVE AND NOT BE INTERESTED IN A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME LITTLE OPPORTUNITY. BUT COMING ACKNOWLEDGES THAT DEEP DEMOCRATIC BENCH IN MARYLAND, INCLUDING CHRIS VAN HOLLEN WHO RAN A POWERFUL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN. CUMMINGS SAYS, DO NOT DISCOUNT THE REPUBLICANS. WE JUST SAW WHAT HAPPENED WITH REGARD TO GOVERNOR HOGAN WINNING IN A BLUE STATE. I THINK THEY FEEL EMPOWERED. IT WILL MEAN ANYBODY. THERE IS SPECULATION ABOUT THE EARLY RUNNING, BABAR KINDLE. BUT IT IS BELIEVED THAT BOB, LIKE HIS NEMESIS MARTIN, HAS DESIGNS EYES ON A BIGGER POLITICAL PRICE. I JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH FORMER GOVERNOR EHRLICH, HE DOESN'T WANT TO COMMENT BUT HE SAYS THE PHONE HAS BEEN RINGING OFF THE HOOK WITH PEOPLE WHO WOULD LIKE HIM TO RUN. WHEN IT COMES TO THIS BIG RACE,

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